Thermometer



H. P. MILKER.

THERMOMETER.

APPLICATION FILED APR- 29| I919.

13,333,813. Patented Mar. 16,1920.

WITNESSES wm ATTORNEYS 414 of Fig. 2.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

HERBERT P. MILKER, OF BROOKLYN, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR TO CHARLES J. TAG'LIABUE MANUFACTURING 00., 0F BROOKLYN, NEW YORK, A CORPORATION OF YORK.

THERMOMETER.

Application filed April 29, 1919.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HERBERT P. MILKER, a' citizen of the United States, and resident of the borough of Brooklyn, county of Kings, city and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Thermometers, of which the following is a specification. I

My invention relates to thermometers of the kind usually utilized in households and otherwise to indicate the temperature.

In order to provide a thermometer which is within the reach of all classes, it is necessary to produce such thermometer at low cost in order that the selling price may be low. Up to the present time, this requirement has largely been met by the so-called tin case thermometers. The latter, however, because they consist of a multiplicity of parts, such as a back, a separate scale plate, a bulb guard and an upper guard, which must be soldered or otherwise secured in place, involve production expenses which are sufliciently high to make it necessary to sell such tin case thermometers at a price which is still too high for the poorer classes.

The object of my invention is to provide a thermometer which is capable of being manufactured so economically and consequently to be sold at such a low figure, as to place it within the reach of everyone.

My invention contemplates also the production at a lesser cost of manufacture, of a thermometer which embodies all of the 'protecting features and any other advantages of the tin case thermometer and which achieves the appearance of the still more expensive wood back thermometers.

A further object is to provide a construction in which errors of parallax in reading the thermometer, are readily avoided. Other more specific objects will appear from the description hereinafter and the features of novelty willbe pointed out in the appended claims. y

In the accompanying drawings, which illustrate an example of my invention, Figure 1 is a face view of the blank from which the thermometer is produced; Fig. 2 is a front view of the thermometer; Fig. .3 is a longitudinal section on the line 33 of Fig. 2; and Fig. 4 is a cross-section on the line In manufacturing my improved thermometer, the scale 5 is first produced, either mum extent and to Specification of Letters Patent. Patented lvlal'. 16, 1920.

Serial No. 293,402.

lithographically or otherwise, directly upon suitable flat sheet of metal, the production of said scale being preferably carried on in multiple. By means of suitable cutting or blanking mechanism the sheet metal may then be cut into blanks 6, of proper dimensions, as shown by way of example in Fig. 1, and including the suspending eyelet 9, the cut 6 and the plurality of cuts 6 which form a series of strips 6 extending transversely of the blank (3. By means of suitable dies or forming mechanism, said metal blank is then shaped to provide the front face 7 and beveled edges 8, or other desired peripheral conformation, and at the same time to form the longitudinal trough 10 the one end of which terminates at the cut 6 and forms an opening 10, as shown in Fig. 3, and the other end of which terminates at the first cut 6". In the preferred arrangement, the trough 10 of curved cross-section although this is not absolutely essential. Coincidentally with the shaping of the blank as described above, the strips 6 are curved outwardly from the front face 7, by the forming mechanism to provide the bulb guardll as shown in Fig. 2, the strips 6 being also arched transversely, as illustrated in Fig. 3 to increase the rigidity of the guard to a maxirovide spaces between the strips whereby tie bulb 14 is rendered more susceptible to the atmospheric and temperature conditions. After the metal blank has been properly shaped, the thermometer tube 12 is secured within the trough 10 in any suitable manner, as by means of wire loops 13 and in proper relation to the scale 5, the bulb 14 being located beneath the guard 11, as shown in Figs. 2 and 3; the upper end of the tube 12 may extend through the opening l0 if adjust ment or dimensions of the parts should make this necessary.

In the finished article, the tube 12 and bulb 14: are located in a protected position in the trough 10 and beneath the guard 11 so that the thermometers may be packed for shipment in an economical manner without the necessity for specially constructed and expensive containers and with the danger of breakage reduced to a minimum. At the same time, by inclosing the bulb of the thermometer in the metallic guard 11, a temperature registration of maximum accuracy is obtained. This is due to the fact that the metal absorbs the heat to a degree corresponding accurately with the exlsting temperature and by radiation correspondingly affects the bulb 14 and the mercury or other fluid therein.

The thermometer, in its finished condition, comprises a minimum of parts, the metal elements thereof, with the exception of the loops 13, being struck or fashioned from a single piece of metal. Thecost of manufacture is thus reduced to the most economical point from which it follows that the thermometer may be sold at a price which is well within the reach of-everyone. It will be understood that the thermometer may be gilded, painted, or otherwise embellished to add .to its ornamental appearance. My improved thermometer is accurate .and eflicient and provides an improved substitute for the so-called tin case thermometer which, because of its cost, has

a more limited field of usefulness than the present improvement.

It will be noted, in the finished ther mometer, that the scale graduations 5, which are printed with the remainder of the scale prior to the shaping of the metal blank, follow the form of the trough 10 and thus extend behind the tube 12 and at the same time are partly located on the front face 7 at opposite sides of said trough. Thus, in reading the thermometer, if the registering end of the column is not at the level of the eye, those parts of the scale graduations. located in the trough will appear in the form of curves in the illustrated example and will immediately indicate to the person reading the thermometer that it does not correspond with the level of the eye. The proper reading position of said thermometer may be readily obtained by shifting it until those parts of graduations 5 in the tube coincide with those parts thereof at opposite sides of said trough or, in other words, until the "lines to the observer.

complete graduations appear as straight Errors of parallax are thus positively and easily avoided and accurate readings are possible with a minimum of effort.

Various changes in the specific form shown and described may be made within the scope of the claims without departing from the spirit of my invention.

1. A thermometer back c'omprisin a metallic sheet the front face of whic is depressed along its longitudinal median line tube on said front face and extending beneath said guard. 3. A thermometer back comprising a metallic sheet a front face depressed along its longitudinal median line to form a trough, a (guard located at one end of said trough an comprising an integral part of said sheet, said guard being formed of a plurality of members arched in the direction of their length and each arched transversely of its length and a thermometer tube in said trough and extending beneath said guard.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hands HERBERT P. MILKER. 

